The world's oldest spider lived to be 43 before a wasp's sting did her in

By Andrea Diaz, CNN

Updated 1:52 PM ET, Mon April 30, 2018

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

The world's oldest spider ever recorded died in Western Australia at the age of 43.

(CNN)This is No. 16, a 43-year-old spider. Or, rather, this was No. 16.

She died a tragic death when she was violently attacked by a wasp in Western Australia.

What makes her story remarkable is that until her death, this trapdoor spider was the oldest known spider in the world.

Trapdoor spiders are called such because they don't spin webs like many others. Instead, they live underground and build a cork-like trapdoor out of soil, vegetation, and silk, which they use to trap insects.

"To our knowledge this is the oldest spider ever recorded, and her significant life has allowed us to further investigate the trapdoor spider's behavior and population dynamics," said Leanda Mason, the lead author of the study that documented No. 16's life.

Number 16's burrow lid was pierced by a mean parasitic wasp, whose sting later killed her.

The cause of its longevity

No. 16 lived in Western Australia, where trapdoor spiders were the subject of a decades-long study that began in 1974.